Running in Hershey

On October 20th, we loaded up the van and headed north to Hershey, PA for the Hershey Half-Marathon.  After a fun afternoon at Chocolate World and checking-in at the race expo and hotel, we headed to the Hershey Stadium for the Kids Fun Run. Our two little racers were very excited to participate in their first race.

Andrew ran a 30 yard dash and he was one of the first couple of kids to "break the line."  He was so excited and then eagerly cheered on Nathan for his race.

Nathan ran a 50 yard dash with the other 6 - 7 year olds. 

We are very proud of our little racers!

The next morning, Dan and I headed back to the Stadium to kick off our race.  Thanks to my parents for watching the boys so we could both run.  Dan may have started with me in the 10 minute mile corral, but he sure ran a quicker pace.  Dan finished his first Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) in 1 hour 55 minutes.  GREAT JOB!

I was excited to complete my 2nd Half-Marathon in 2 hours 18 minutes.  It was a beautiful morning for a run!

 

More Fall Festival Fun

It's my favorite time of year... fall.  And if the weather is good, we are eager to get outside and enjoy this glorious time of year. So after church last Sunday, we took a beautiful drive west about 45 minutes to Long Branch, a historic house in Clarke County for the Shenandoah Wine and Music Festival.  The Virginia countryside is absolutely stunning out there.  We lazily spent 5 hours at the festival playing, relaxing, eating and enjoying the festivities (music, children's magic show, "punkin chunkin", monster truck ride, hayride).  Nathan LOVED playing with the bow & arrow we bought at the festival and Andrew had fun taking pictures.  My brother and his girlfriend also joined us and we were all amazed by the "punkin chunkin".  We witnessed one of the crazy contraptions below chuck a pumpkin over 2,000 feet.  It was surprisingly incredible to watch!

This picture of Nathan is one of Andrew's photos.

And this photo of us was taken by Andrew. 

Happy Fall Y'all!

Fall Festival Fun at Liberty

Last Saturday afternoon, we checked out the PTA Sponsored Fall Festival at Liberty Elementary School.  While I was manning the popcorn machine, Dan and the boys had fun earning coins at the various carnival type games.  The boys were very excited to be able to wear their halloween costumes already!  It was a fun ending to a busy Saturday.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

In early October, we celebrated our friend Anna's 3rd birthday with a fun fall pumpkin themed party.  Festivities included scarecrow making, a pumpking hunt, pumpking painting and yummy pumpkin food.  What a fun celebration!

Fall Festival Fun at Cox Farms

After Dan, Dana and I ran the Reston 10 miler (thanks to Zack for watching all the kids), we spent a beautiful afternoon at Cox Farms.  We enjoyed many of the old favorites.... slides, rope swing, and hayride.  And then the boys had fun with something new...  sluicing for "gems"!